With a little bit of ballroom and some modern dance, the genre-defying Make Banana Cry takes Asian stereotypes and transmutes them into a joyous celebration.
From the opening moments — when the theatre is blacked out with uncomfortable helicopter sounds — co-creators Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson masterfully build tension that held my attention until the final second.
Following the ruckus of the helicopters, as the lights came up, the cast of Francesca Chudnoff, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Winnie Ho, Cynthia Koppe, Sehyoung Lee, and Stephen Thompson began walking the rectangular catwalk in silence. Initially bundled up in winter wear, they felt distant, observing rather than performing for the audience.
As the soundscape shifts to include American-influenced Asian music and stereotypical interpretations of Asian music, the dancers shed layers, exchanging them for costumes that reference both stereotypes and campy aesthetics. Many of the materials seemed to come from the dollar store, a hotspot of Asian exploitation. Make Banana Cry is a celebratory, defiant, provocative work of art.
This article appeared in the 2026 Apr/May issue.